What is the correct name for the craft of applying veneer to a surface to form decorative patterns?
What is the correct name for the craft of applying veneer to a surface to form decorative patterns?
Edited #1
Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
What is the correct name for the craft of applying veneer to a surface to form decorative patterns?
Intarsia
@Dale Stansbery, Yep 
Also Marquetry
https://www.woodcentral.com/?p=Glossary&search=marquetry#results
I had always understood intarsia and marquetry to be two names for the same process. Style varies between them as marquetry is historically European and intarsia is historically middle eastern.
A follow up bit of trivia - does one call Federal style decorations like the one pictured in the OP inlay or marquetry? I tend to make a distinction between the two, unless the entire surface is veneered, but I honestly don't think there is a specific "right" answer....
my understanding of the difference is that intarsia uses thicker pieces of wood and retains the profile of the wood pieces while marquetry pieces are veneers and sanded to the surface of the wood it is applied to.
think of a jig saw puzzle where you feel each individual piece (intarsia) vs a jig saw puzzle that is sanded flat (marquetry - where you cannot feel the individual piece but can see where they are connected)
jc